A woman “slapped” the back of a police car moments before Australian-born bride-to-be Justine Damond was shot to death by a Minnesota cop, according to a new search warrant. The warrant, filed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the fatal shooting, doesn’t explicitly say that woman was Damond, Minnesota Public Radio reported. It says, “Upon police arrival, a female ‘slaps’ the back of the patrol squad … After that, it is unknown to BCA agents what exactly happened, but the female became deceased in the alley.”

JUSTINE Damond’s killer cop doesn’t have to talk about why he shot her — but if he wants to keep his job, he will be compelled. The Star Tribune reports that Officer Mohamed Noor has a constitutional right not to talk with anyone pursuing possible criminal charges in her shooting death. But if the Minneapolis Police Department opens an internal investigation, the law will force him to talk if he wants to keep working as a police officer. However, if he gives a statement there’s another cruel twist. It can never be used in a criminal case. In Minnesota, public...

WILLMAR, Minn. — The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations wants a Willmar man charged with a hate crime after an incident at a farmer's market last weekend. Willmar police were called to the farmer's market about 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, on a report that an individual had allegedly been cursing at a young adult male Somali-American selling vegetables at a stand. According to law enforcement reports, he then threw a pig's foot at the Somali. The Willmar Police Department identified the man as Joseph Fernkes, 61, of Willmar. CAIR-MN now wants Fernkes charged with a hate...

Court documents show that authorities found nothing when they searched the home of Justine Ruszczyk Damond shortly after an officer fatally shot her. Damond called for police assistance July 15 because she believed she had heard a sexual assault taking place in the alley behind her house. Mohamed Noor, one of the two responding officers, shot her. He has declined to be interviewed by investigators. Hours later, police obtained a search warrant for Damond's house and checked inside for blood, hair, guns, ammunition, knives, drugs or writings. They took nothing from the home. The Damond family attorney, Bob Bennett, says...

Ahmed Jama's wife said she feared for her life. A rookie Minneapolis police officer has been charged with threatening his wife during an argument at their home the night before he was sworn in as a member of the city's police force. Dakota County prosecutors say Ahmed Jama, 29, got into an argument with his wife at the couple's Apple Valley home around 11 p.m. on Aug. 1, according to a criminal complaint. Jama threatened to shoot his wife in the head, authorities said, telling her that he would get away with it.

At least two orange street signs reading "Warning: Twin Cities police easily startled" were seen in the Twin Cities Sunday. Joe Morino brought an incredulous friend to see the orange street sign he just spotted in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. The official-looking metal sign read: “WARNING: TWIN CITIES POLICE EASILY STARTLED.” It featured a graphic silhouette of a police officer, a gun in each raised hand, shooting in both directions. “There’s a side of truth to the sign,” Morino said after snapping a picture of it. “That tells you there is something wrong with the system.” The sign, which...

[]Full tite: FBI: 'Improvised explosive device' caused blast at Bloomington Islamic center **SNIP** A blast caused by what the FBI called “an improvised explosive device” rocked a Bloomington Islamic center before dawn Saturday...The blast was reported at 5:05 a.m.Even before the FBI update, congregants said the blast appeared to be a hate crime. Mohamed Omar, the center’s executive director, who was in the building when the explosion erupted...The building was once the site of Northgate Elementary School and Concordia High School. It also served as a worship space for Maranatha Community Church. The Dar Al Farooq Center bought it in...

It comes after a different group earlier said it was also offering a $10,000 reward. The blast occurred around 5 a.m. Saturday at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. Police say there were no injuries. The FBI is leading an investigation into the explosion. CAIR's local chapter says its national office is urging Islamic centers and mosques to step up security.

MINNEAPOLIS - One person is dead and others are trapped under rubble after a building exploded and collapsed at Minnehaha Academy. The explosion happened at Minnehaha's upper campus on 3100 West River Parkway in Minneapolis.

NEW HAVEN >> Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota tried to be serious when he spoke Sunday at the Shubert Theatre about topics such as health care, but as a former comedian, he couldn’t stop himself from cracking jokes and drawing belly laughs from the partisan crowd. Franken, who is touring to support his book, the satirically titled “Al Franken, Giant of the Senate,” attracted several thousand left-leaning people on a summer afternoon. The event was sponsored by R.J. Julia Booksellers of Madison. During the hour-long, on-stage conversation with Colin McEnroe, who hosts a talk show on WNPR Connecticut Public Radio,...

New K-12 school guidelines in Minnesota are mandating public schools to “segregate” students who object to transgender locker rooms and bathrooms to foster inclusion of “gender nonconforming” and transgender people. Last week, the Minnesota Department of Education advisory council approved a new gender toolkit aimed at protecting and including transgender students in the state’s public education system.

The Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standard and Training on Thursday voted down a proposal by Gov. Mark Dayton to name a training fund in honor of Philando Castile. The board vote came just before 11 a.m. Thursday. The governor had requested a new $12 million fund aimed at training police for work in diverse communities be named for Castile, who was shot and killed by then-St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez last July. The request immediately drew the ire of many in the law enforcement community, who have said that since Yanez was acquitted of manslaughter, Dayton's request felt...

KSTP, Minneapolis/St. Paul: Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators were granted permission to search Justine Damond’s home hours after she was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer, according to court records ... "I don’t understand why they’re looking for bodily fluids inside her home," said Joseph Daly, an emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, referring to one of two recently-released search warrant applications. "Whose bodily fluids are they looking for? Is she a suspect? I don't understand why they're looking for controlled substances inside her home. I don’t understand why they’re looking for writings inside...

State Representative and Minneapolis mayoral candidate Raymond Dehn is calling for major policing changes, proposing to take away guns from the majority of officers. Dehn is one of several candidates running to beat current Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges in the fall. Fox9 reports that he recently won the support of voters at the Democratic Farmer Labor convention and now his call to disarm police of their side guns is garnering major attention. Dehn believes that officers should leave guns in their cars and only access them when needed. But not to worry, Dehn would be open to officers using...

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators were granted permission to search Justine Damond's home hours after she was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer, according to court records. A criminal law expert can't understand why. "When I read that search warrant, I really cannot find probable cause to search her home," he continued. According to court documents, investigators applied for the warrant on the following grounds: The property or things above-described was used as a means of committing a crime The possession of the property or things above-described constitutes a crime. The property or things above-described is...

The records show Officer Mohamed Noor was hired as a cadet in March 2015. In September of that year, he received a letter saying he passed his Peace Officer Licensing Examination and was eligible to become a licensed, sworn officer. Noor is on paid leave after he killed Justine Damond, a 40-year-old spiritual teacher who was engaged to be married, on July 15 after she called 911 twice to report a possible rape. Noor, who was in the passenger seat of a squad car, shot across his partner in the driver's seat and hit Damond. His partner told authorities that...

The Somali-American council member who represents Minneapolis' 6th Ward is calling for change within the police department while proclaiming the shooting of Justine Damond "is not a Somali issue" but a policing issue. Council Member Abdi Warsame took aim at the media and Facebook users who are calling Officer Mohamed Noor a “Somali killer cop.” Warsame referred to those statements, along with the statement issued last week by former Congressman Michele Bachmann, in which Bachmann said Noor was "an affirmative-action hire by the hijab-wearing mayor of Minneapolis," as “trash.” Warsame told reporters at a news conference Sunday that he has never...

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges (D) was interrupted by protesters Friday during a press conference announcing the resignation of Police Chief Janee Harteau over the death of an Australian woman who dialed 911 for help but was fatally shot by police. Protesters shouting for Hodges' resignation forced the mayor into silence at the press conference, demanding changes to the police department that has "terrorized" the city.

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Protesters of the fatal police shooting of Justine Damond, disrupted Mayor Betsy Hodges' press conference at City Hall in Minneapolis. Hodges had scheduled a press conference about the resignation of Police Chief Janee Harteau. Protesters of the shooting had gathered at Loring Park and marched in the downtown, disrupting Green and Blue light rail lines along the way

At the request of the mayor, Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau announced her resignation Friday afternoon in the aftermath of the officer-involved shooting of Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian woman.